The Wand of Laurel
by The Anti-Horcrux
Summary: 17 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Cho Chang's daughter, Leah Chang-Fletcher, goes to school and learns magic. She meets people like James Sirius Potter, Teddy Lupin, and more. Everyone thinks that the next few years will be completely normal... but Leah's wand seems to have more power than anyone ever expected. Voldemort won't be the darkest wizard who ever lived anymore...
1. Lainoloc Lane

**Hello guys! This is the first chapter of my first fanfiction, so I hope you like! I'm planning for the story to be quite long, spanning all Hogwarts years, and get much more exciting. Please rate and leave constructive criticism so this fanfic can get better. The story follows canon and everything J.K.'s told us as of October 1st, 2015. All the information about wandlore was taken from the Pottermore Wiki, so give them partial credit. All the characters in Harry Potter are owned by J.K. Rowling. Thanks, and have fun reading!  
~theantihorcrux~**

Chapter One: Lainoloc Lane

I was five years old when I showed my first signs of magical ability. I had been playing with my little sister, Hanna, who had been three at the time, and I had attempted to throw a soccer ball to her. I was about to hit her face and cause a serious injury, I was terrified for a moment, but right before the collision, it stopped and hovered in the air for a few seconds before it dropped. After that incident, my parents knew that I, Leah Chang-Fletcher, was a witch.

My mother, Cho Chang, was a witch too. She used to live in Scotland and learned magic like all the other witches and wizards. After her schooling, she came to live in America to work a the British Ministry of Magic s Embassy here in Maryland, near Washington D.C. She fell in love with my dad, Jacob Fletcher, and they got married and had me and Hanna. My mom has long, shining dark hair and dark eyes and freckles on her nose. She s beautiful. My dad has frizzy copper-brown hair and is very tall. He has brown eyes, but they re much lighter than my mother s. He s a bit hairy, if I had to describe him. He s nice, though, and has a great smile. Oh yeah, he s also a muggle.

Apparently it s a bit strange for wizards to marry non-magical folk, some might even say it s inappropriate. But my Dad s as close to a wizard as a muggle could possibly be. Once, my mom took him to Lainoloc Lane, a bustling street full of shops and people. I ve always wanted to go, but Mom says that I should wait until I get my Hogwarts acceptance letter. Most American wizards, as I ve heard (I ve never actually met any wizards besides my mom and Hanna, as far as I know) go to the American school in New York, but my mom wanted to go the extra mile and send me to the British school, where she made so many memories.

Anyway, my mom took my dad to Lainoloc Lane and gave him a handful of Galleons to spend. He bought potions books, quidditch rules, and magical history books. He s practically memorized them all. So have I.

Lost in thought on a weekend afternoon, I hear the gentle hoot, hoot of an owl. Ugh, that must be Hanna s new stuffed animal. She never stops playing with it. I get up to go tell Hanna to turn the stupid thing off for once and pass a mirror. I see myself with my shoulder-length hair. Dark like my mother s and frizzy like my father s. My eyes are my mother s, but only in color, I have my dad s shape. I have the freckles on my nose just like my mother, but more of them. I m tall like my dad, but a bit bony like my mom. My sister looks very different. For every quality I have from one parent, she has the opposite quality from the other. For example, she has the color of dad s eyes but the shape of mom s eyes.

I turn away from the mirror, knowing my sister will make fun of me to no end if she catches me looking in the mirror for too long. I hear a plop at the door and notice a parchment envelope with a purple wax seal slip in through a crack in the door. I pick up the note and turn it over in my shaky hands.

Miss L. Chang-Fletcher

Room in the Attic

451 Holly Road

Maryland

United States of America

It was addressed to me, but in a very strange way. Emerald ink, and it was so accurate! I open my eyes wide and rip open the envelope, because this could only mean one thing.

Dear Miss Chang-Fletcher,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find inside a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term starts on September 1st. We await your owl no later than July 31st.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress

I scream with excitement and start jumping up and down like a maniac. I got my Hogwarts letter! I hear angry footsteps as my family comes rushing to the door, seeing if there was a problem. Mom opens her mouth to scold me for yelling so loud when there was obviously no real emergency. But then I show her the letter. She snatches it from me and reads it over. When she looks up, she has tears in her eyes. (She ll use any excuse to cry, to be honest) She gives me a large smile with her perfect white teeth.

What is it? Hanna asks hurriedly. Dad stares at my mother with a quizzical look on his face. Leah Is going to Hogwarts! Dad smiles and reaches down to hug me. (It s one of the few times he s hugged me, he s not really one for touching others.) My sister looks up at me and opens her mouth to what I think was supposed to be a smile, but whatever it was, it was huge. It was nice to have this attention, but after a few seconds of my whole family just staying silent with dumb smiles on their faces, it got a bit embarrassing, and really awkward.

So, I say, trying to break the silence. When are we going to get the school supplies?

Oh! Mom exclaims, bringing herself back into reality. Today, I guess.

I take the other piece of parchment out from the envelope and read the hefty list of school supplies that we needed.

Uniform

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter coat (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil s clothes should wear nametags

Course Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)

By Miranda Goshawk

The History of Magic

By Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory

By Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner s guide to Transfiguration

By Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

By Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions

By Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

By Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

By Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Well, this will definitely burn some galleons, Dad exclaimed when he finally reached the end of the page.

Hasn t changed a bit since my first year. I wonder if they re going to teach about the Battle of Hogwarts? Mom will rant endlessly about how she helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who and that kids these days must learn about it.

All I could worry about is that everyone will look sad and dreary with all that black clothing. Maybe I ll figure out how to charm my robes so they ll be a bit more colorful. And that I d really like to bring my dog, Merlin. (Of course named after the famous wizard.) Mom says that the Weasleys brought a rat to school, (who, of course, ended up to be a Death Eater in his animagus form) which wasn t mentioned on the list. So why can t I bring a dog?

Mom packs us all into the red minivan so we can go to Lainoloc Lane and buy my school supplies. My dad, a fairly calm person, was bouncing off the walls telling me about how amazing it was.

When we finally get out, we find ourselves out in front of a small and dark deli. I look up my mom. Are you serious? I whisper to her. She gives me that don t-talk-to-me-like-that look and nods. We walk in and Mom heads to the small man at the counter.

Excuse me, My mom says. The man gives her a bored stare. I ll have three glasses of pumpkin juice and exactly three quarters of a deviled egg, (Hanna, of course, chooses this moment to giggle in delight.) The man sighs. Come with me, He says in a hoarse voice. The man leads us to the back of the deli. To my surprise, I see a small, white door. He opens the door and leaves.

Mama? Hanna asks. Why was that man so grumpy? She looks back to see if the man was still there.

I ve heard rumors that he s a squib, poor thing, Mom replies, as she pushes the little white door open and we crawl through.

On the other side was the most amazing thing I ve ever seen. Although it was the middle of summer, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, lining the gravel streets along with grass. Me and Hanna run down the soft, grassy hill and stare in amazement at all the witches and wizards who passed. Yes, we are half-bloods, our mother is a witch, but we ve lived like muggles. Muggle dad, muggle friends, muggle house, muggle car, muggle everything. It was amazing to see these things. No matter how many times you read something, it will never live up to seeing it in real life.

Mom hands me the school supplies list and a small purse full of galleons. Shop away! Me and Hanna run down the gravel pathway to Abby s Robes and Other Magical Clothing. The lady, who I assume was called Abby, was very nice. She fitted three casual black robes for me. I asked her if it was possible for one to change the robe s colors.

I m not sure if Hogwarts allows its student to change the colors of their robes, I know that in America, we are a bit strict in that matter. But if you do want to change the colors, you might want to pay attention in Transfiguration class! She says with a tinkling laugh.

She hands me a hat that fit me perfectly, even though it felt a bit stupid to wear. Next, we tried on some dragonskin gloves that looked epic, but I bet it would look a million times better if it were fingerless, like in those spy movies Hanna always likes. The winter coat was very warm and for once, was a bit more classy than the muggle coats. Abby even embroidered my name on all the items for me with magic for no extra charge.

Hanna and I walk down the path to Parchment and Pens to buy books, and are amazed by the shelves bursting with books climbing high to the ceiling. I could literally live here. We have to look for a while to find the British books, since most kids were going to the American School. We find them all and added Hogwarts, A History, plus What to do at Magic School? to get prepared for what we have to learn, and The War Against the Dark Lord: A Memoir by Hermione Weasley, just to see what the hype is all about. I quickly add A Wizard s Guide to Wandlore on the way out.

We head to Potions Palooza! and quickly purchase the B model cauldron, which is what all the others are buying, and it fits the requirements for school. We also buy a set of crystal phials and some brass scales.

We stroll through the blooming cherry trees to Waverly s Wands. I look up at the small store and take a deep breath. I ve read many wizarding books, and for as long as I ve remembered, I ve wanted to be a wandmaker. The fact that everyone has a different wand and that each wand reflects what the owner is best at, just amazes me. My mom has always told me, The wand choose the wizard , which is what makes this so exciting. I stroll into the store, trying to act casual, when really, butterflies are flapping in my stomach. What wand will I get? Will it work? What if the wand won t do magic for me? What if I m not right to get a wand at all?

An old man who introduces himself as Zered Waverly sits me down on a tall wooden stool and asks me my name.

Leah Chang-Fletcher,

Daughter of Cho Chang?

Yessir,

What a nice lady, I ve spoken to her a few times!

I gulp. Yessir,

Aw, you don t have to be so polite!"

I give a weak smile. Ok, sorry, I m just a bit nervous,

Everybody is when they get their first wand. It ll be OK, He grabs a wand off the self. Let s try this one, Maple with Phoenix feather core. 10 inches. Stiff.

I grab the wand and give it a wave. The chair beneath me falls over. I blush with embarrassment. Sorry, I mutter.

Don t worry about it! Mr. Waverly chuckles. We just need to find you the right wand!

He takes a wand from the top shelf. Ash with Kneazle Whisker core. 9 inches. Unyielding. I flip over a small box full of wand cores

Ebony and unicorn?

Fir and dittany stalk?

Apple and kelpie?

He pulls out another wand from the shelf. What about this. Laurel with Dragon heartstring core. 12 inches. Nice and springy. By now, I m blushing like a tomato and those small butterflies have turned into angry wasps, stinging the inside of my stomach. But when Mr. Waverly hands me that wand, I am able to lift a quill a few feet above Mr. Waverly s small desk. I smile. So does he.

Now, Leah, with that kind of wood and that kind of core, you can do extremely powerful, even lethal magic. I haven t had that combination in a while. You must be very careful. But I m sure this wand will be perfect for you. He smiles again. Some of those butterflies have come back, but I m glad I have a wand that will do my willing.

I walk with Hanna to the small coffee shop where my mom and dad are waiting. I barely talk to her, I just marvel at my wand, the dark wood and where it spirals like a corkscrew at the end. Wands just fascinate me to no end.

I show mom and dad my wand, and they re all very impressed with what I got. I didn t tell them the warning that Mr. Waverly gave me. I hear a small noise from under the table. My dad reaches under and pulls out a large box.

We meant for this to be a surprise, but this little guy was so excited to see you! I open the box to find a small orange kitten with blue eyes. I smile. So I guess I can t bring Merlin! I chuckle. Dad shakes his head. So what would you like to name her?

I think about it for a moment. I think I ll name her Apple Pie. Apple for short,

Well that s certainly cute. My mom replies. Hanna asks to hold Apple and I let her. We eat lunch in Lainoloc Lane and then leave, shopping all done.

As we were driving home in the car, Hanna exclaims, The wand shop guy told Leah that her wand was-

Shhh! I don t want mom and dad knowing about what happened.

Why?

Because!

Leah, let her speak, Mom said calmly in her oh-so-perfect Scottish accent.

Well, Hanna started as I blush furiously. The wand shop guy-

Mr. Waverly, I interrupt.

I got it! Now shut up! The wand shop guy said-

Hanna! Mom exclaims. That was not a very nice thing to say! Apologize now!

Urgh, OK, I m sorry! Are you OK now?

Say it nicely, I comment, trying to annoy my little sister.

She looks me in the eye. I- am- sorry!

I nod. The wand shop guy said that Leah s wand was super powerful and could possibly be lethal!

I squeeze my eyes shut as I wait for my parent s response. To my surprise, Mom laughs. Good! Powerful wands are something every good Auror needs! Just don t kill anybody! Mom thinks I want to be an Auror like all the other kids, like she wanted to be after the Battle of Hogwarts. But I don t want to be an Auror. It would be cool, but not my dream. I want to be a wandmaker.

Even after all the lights are out and everyone should be asleep, I m tossing and turning in my sleep wondering, Am I dangerous? I look at the clock. 11 o clock PM. I should ve been asleep hours ago. I go to my closet and pull out A Wizard s Guide to Wandlore. I flip to the section about wand cores and what they mean.

Dragon Heartstring is one of the more common wand cores. They produce wands with the most power, capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn quicker than other wands. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with their current owner.

It was a bit strange how the book talked about wands, as if they had personalities, as if they were alive. I read on.

The dragon wand tends to turn easiest to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of it s own accord. It is also most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental. It also tends to be leathley hazardous if combined with certain woods, such as cherry or yew.

I knew that dragon heartstring was a very common wand material, it scared me a bit to find out that it was most prone to the Dark Arts. I flip to the encyclopedia of wand woods and find laurel.

It is said that a laurel wand cannot perform a dishonourable act, although in the quest for glory (a not uncommon goal for those most suited for these wands), laurel wands have been known to perform powerful and sometimes lethal magic. Laurel wands are sometimes called fickle, but this is unfair; the laurel wand is unable to tolerate laziness in a possessor, and it is in such conditions that it is most easily and willingly won away.

Otherwise, it will cleave happily to it s first match forever, and indeed has the unusual and engaging attribute of issuing a spontaneous lightning strike if another witch or wizard tries to steal it.

The section on the laurel wand canceled out some of the points in the section on dragon heartstring such as being able to change allegiances. What confused me about the section on the laurel wand is that although it said it cannot do a dishonorable deed, why is it known for doing lethal magic?  
I feel my eyelids getting heavy and in what felt like felt like only a few seconds, I woke up to see light streaming through the large attic window above my bed.


	2. Dance Class

**Yay! You liked the first chapter enough to read the second! Digital high-five! I'm planning to post at least one chapter a week, although I know I won't be able to keep up with that after a while. Please comment and give constructive criticism, as I want to make this fanfic as good as possible. Again, all characters from Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. Have fun reading! Bye!**

Chapter Two: Dance Class

I wanted to just close my eyes and go back to sleep, but then I realize that today was Monday. And although it was still Summer, Mom had signed me up for a latin dancing day camp at the local community center.

I slide out of bed and turn my alarm clock off. I stumble across the room to my dresser drawer and open it to look for my favorite pair of jeans. I sit there for a few minutes, staring blankly at the walls, half-sleeping. Then I come back to consciousness and quickly put some jeans and a t-shirt on. I pack a small bag with my latin skirt and some ballroom shoes.

I chose to do latin dancing because it s not ballet, like my sister does. Not many kids do it. But it s beautiful. And the skirts are fun to swish around in, to be honest. I guess I enjoy being different than all the others.

I gobble down my Cheerios and pack a cheese sandwich, a bag of popcorn, and an orange for my lunch. I find Apple, who was sleeping on a pillow we left out for her, and wait for her to do her business. (We haven t gotten her a proper litter box yet.) Then I give her some of last night s leftovers to eat. (We haven t got Apple any food yet, and I reckon leftovers will be her main diet while we re at Hogwarts.) Apple and Merlin seem to have tolerated each other in the short time that she was here. Although, we can t stop a few hisses and barks escaping their mouths.

I kiss my Mom good-bye and get in the car. Dad is driving me to camp, since the community center is on his way to work. I get out of the car and walk up the steps into the large building. I was, surprisingly, a bit early. I change into my dance clothing and take out Hogwarts, A History. Of course it crossed my mind that I was in a muggle class, but I also knew that if someone saw me reading this, they probably wouldn't give it a second thought.

I got a few weird glances from some of my classmates. And one even went to the point of asking me what my book was about.

Haven t you ever heard of Hogwarts? It was a terrible disease that killed many pigs who lived in Brazil, The girl goes away, but I m pretty sure she s wondering why I m even reading that. If she ever asks, I ll say I want to be an exotic animal veterinarian. A small boy (the first person here who looks my age) with dirty-blonde hair that has almost a greenish hue and quite a bit of dandruff on his shoulders to it sits down next to me. I recognize him. His name is Rei Tanton and he lives down the street from me, but I ve only talked to him once or twice during block potlucks. All I know is that he likes swimming. (The chlorine is probably the reason his hair has a bit of green in it.)

Hey, I start. I didn t know you danced,

My Mom made me, He says, closing his book.

I see, I take a quick look at the cover of his book.

Your book I stammer.

What about it?

It s Hogwarts, A History! I show him my book. His cheeks go red.

You- You re a wizard, too?

Well, yeah. My Mom s a wizard and my dad s a muggle,

At least one of your parents is a wizard

I see, you re a muggle-born, Some people find muggleborns dishonorable and call them horrible names. But I don t see them as any different than me. Just different kinds of parents.

But why are you going to the British school?

Why are you going to Hogwarts? He challenges.

My Mom wanted me to go. Made all her memories there,

My family is going to move to England next month,

We sit there for a moment. So, He asks. Embarrassingly enough, I ve never gotten around to knowing your name, I m R-

I know, you re Rei Tanton. I m Leah Chang-Fletcher, Rei blushes.

Before we can continue our conversation, our teacher, Madame Palacio invites us to the dance floor. Since we are the youngest campers there, we are paired together. We start with a simple merengue. The other campers seem so graceful, so elegant. Me and Rei are clumsy and awkward. Whenever we mess up, Rei seems to take the blame.

We bump into other dancers: "Oops, sorry, I was leading you in the wrong direction,"

I step on his toe: "Sorry, I was taking the wrong step there,"

Madame Palacio yells at us: "I was probably the one who messed up," What an idiot. A nice idiot, though, I know we're going to be great friends at Hogwarts.

At the end of class, we take the bus home together and talk about wizard things, he asks me a million questions about how magic works and what kind of spells can you use. And we talk about muggle things, too. Who do we think should be the next Doctor? What books are we reading? Why do I have the same name as Princess Leah. I don't. It sounds similar, but it's spelled differently. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars. It's been years since I watched them, and I'm surprised that Rei hasn't read The Lord Of the Rings.

It's nice knowing another wizard, my age, who will go to my school. I know we'll be great friends.

I get home and take out a piece of cheddar cheese and some strawberries for a snack. I finish up the last few chapters of Hogwarts, a History and then proceed to break open The War Against the Dark Lord: a memoir by Hermione Weasley. I read a few chapters, but then skip to the end to read the most exciting parts. Then I proceed to casually skim through the pages.

"Hey Mom! You never told me that you actually kissed Harry Potter!"

Mom blushes. "Well, yeah... It was a bit awkward, though,"

"Yeah, but why did you break up?" I ask.

"Well, it's hard to explain. His friend, Hermione Granger, did something very mean to my friend, Marietta Edgecombe. I was ashamed of what Marietta did, but what Hermione did to her afterwards was just cruel, and Harry stood by her and didn't even care about what happened to my friend. Also, sometimes I feel like the only reason I ever loved him was because he was the only one who really knew what happened to Him,"

Mom never really got over the death of her childhood love interest, Cedric Diggory, who was killed by the Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew, during the Triwizard Tournament. I make a mental note to find out more about what happened that night when the Tri-Wizard cup turned into a portkey that almost killed Potter (saved by an extraordinary case of Priori Incantatem) and finished off Diggory for good.

Well, I start. We learned basic steps of a merengue and the tango,

Cool! Did you make any friends?

Yeah. Rei Tanton was there. He was the only kid my age,

Oh! I didn t know Rei danced, I thought he only swam,

Well, his Mom made him,

I see,

He s also going to Hogwarts, I say quickly. He s moving to England this summer.

Mom gives me a quizzical look. Wow. That s quite a coincidence. That someone on your block is going to Hogwarts, too,

Yeah. It s pretty amazing. But we re friends, if I can say that after one day,

Do you looooooove him? Hanna had been home from ballet camp for a while now and was now being annoying as usual.

Hanna I barely know him,

That s what you say,

I roll my eyes in exasperation. I hear the door open and Dad comes in. (His work ends a bit later than Mom s) I tell him about my day and we chat a bit. Dinner was stir-fry. It was OK, but I ended up searching through the pile of veggies to find the little marinated steak pieces. We watch some movie about human origins, it was good, but we didn t finish it. After some more reading of The War Against the Dark Lord, I go to sleep.

I wake up with a similar routine as yesterday. I quite like it up here, in my little attic. It s a bit drafty, but it s big and quiet, which, for someone like me, are things a good bedroom needs.

I go to camp, this time exactly on time and am partnered up with Rei again as we do the salsa. We chat a bit, but quietly, as we don t want to attract too much attention.

So who were the most recent headmasters?

Minerva McGonagall is the current headmaster. Albus Dumbledore was headmaster for a while before then, but was killed by Severus Snape. Then he became headmaster for a year before he was killed,

Why did he kill Dumbledore?

Well, according to most sources these days, Snape had been a double agent for Dumbledore, pretending to be a Death Eater. Dumbledore was under a curse that was slowly killing him after destroying one of the horcruxes, the things that kept You-Know-Who alive for so long. People thought that he had sided with You-Know-Who, because he became headmaster when Hogwarts and the rest of the ministry was under control of the Death Eaters,

Huh. That s confusing. Why did he side with Dumbledore?

You will never stop asking questions! I groan. On and on and on!

Sorry, He says sheepishly. It s just habit,

It s OK. This subject interests me, I continue. Anyway, Snape was originally a Death Eater, and nobody really knows why he switched sides, but the people closest to him say he was in love,

With who?

Well, you know about the prophecy that Sybill Trelawney told Dumbledore? The one about Harry Potter? Well, Snape was the one who overheard it and relayed the message to You-Know-Who. As we know, he killed the Potters. It is said that Snape had been in love with Lily Potter since childhood, and because he was a Death Eater, she never loved him,

Poor guy,

I guess, I say. I thought that at first, but when you think about it, he only left the Death Eaters because of one person, I feel like if Lily Potter hadn t died, he would have happily gone on helping You-Know-Who. Plus, we don t know if all this fluffy stuff even happened, But it was sad, and I don t like to admit it, but I m kind of romantic, love stories, real or fiction, intrigue me.

The only way we assume this, I add on. Is because when You-Know-Who killed Snape because he wrongly that he was in possession of the Elder Wand, a wand that can beat anyone in a fuel, he gave his memories of Lily to Harry Potter. It would be a strange person to give his memories to, because the loathed each other their entire lives before then, but Potter was the only person there, and he was Lily s son,

Why did they hate each other? I sigh. Snape was Harry s potions teacher, and Harry assumed that he was a Death Eater. Snape always saw Harry as being more like James Potter, who bullied him to no end as a child. I guess Snape saw something more in Harry as he was dying,

What a terrible life, He murmurs. Now, tell me, how do you give someone your memories?

Chang! Tanton! I hope you re both discussing how to salsa over there! Madame Palacio says in her gruff voice.

All this salsa-ing is making me hungry, I say. Rei and I both laugh. I enjoy magical history, especially history relating to You-Know-Who. Maybe it s my Mom who got me into it. But it s so intricate and complex, it s utterly enjoyable learning about it. It s more than just reading a history book. It s more than that.

When we finish up, I call my Mom with my crappy little pink phone with a million parental controls and ask her if Rei can come home for dinner. She was a bit hesitant at first (she thoroughly believes in family time over friend time), but with some persuasion she said yes.

Rei came home with me and we chatted a bit more about the fight against You-Know-Who. Dinner was some beef tacos (as requested by two hungry dancers), it was pretty good. Hanna asked some questions about it too, noticing we were discussing it. Mom was happy that we were talking about the subject, and mentioned many times that she had helped Harry Potter destroy the Ravenclaw diadem, a horcrux, by letting him into the Ravenclaw common room during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Mom showed us her old broom, a Comet Two-Ninety, which isn t that good, but we wanted to ride it anyway. I once rode it last year when Mom was away for the Dumbledore s Army reunion (which, to be honest, I m not so certain if she earned the title of being a member of it), and she got pretty angry when she found out. It was fun, though. I felt like a bird doing dives and turns like that. Mom didn t let us now. ( What if the muggles see? ) But it was cool seeing it.

Rei left soon, and I went to bed knowing that soon, I d be at Hogwarts, learning magic.


	3. Hogwarts at Last

**Apparently I'm a good enough author for you to bother to read my third chapter. *Yay!* You might be wondering why there are spaces instead of apostrophes. I write my stories on Google Drive, then transfer them over to notepad, and then upload them here. Somewhere in that process all my apostrophes were lost. So I'm trying to fix it by hand on , but if you're wondering, this is why. Anyways, Harry Potter belongs to JKR. Please review and follow... yadayadayada. You know the routine. Have fun reading! Bye!**

Apparition felt strange, like someone was forcing me through a tiny hole and like my body was being squashed like a rotten banana. Thankfully, It only lasted a moment. It was pretty amazing, though. One second, we're standing in the living room, the next, me, Mom, Dad, Hanna, and Rei are outside a bustling train station. It was the first real magic I've actually seen done by my mother.

We wheel our stuff in, following any other wizards we see to Platform 9 . All the students seem to be charging into a brick wall. I find it a bit stupid to put it in King s Cross. If a muggle sees someone running into a brick wall, what would they think?

We ram our carts and our bodies into the brick wall, and we find ourselves on the other side where a bright red train called the Hogwarts Express is waiting for us. I stare at it in amazement. Rei is smiling from ear to ear. I see many wizarding families on the platform, giving their children a last kiss goodbye before they leave for several months.

Mom gives me a big hug. "Leah, I am so proud of you,"

I smile. "I'm going to miss you, Mom,"

I walk over to Dad. I give him a big hug. Hanna says she'll really miss me and reminds me that soon, we'll be boarding this train together.

"Now Leah," Mom reminds me. "Do your best on your schoolwork and send lots of letters. We'll always be there to help you," We all lean in for one final hug before I grab Rei's hand and we board the Hogwarts Express.

We go to the back of the train to find an empty seat. There is a boy with messy black hair and glasses and a girl with short brown hair and a Slytherin scarf already sitting in there.

"Hi!" The girl says. "I'm Mina. Mina Higgs. I'm second-year Slytherin."

"Well you can go on in your ways, worshipping You-Know-Who and all, but I'm James and I am going to be a Gryffindor!" Mina scowls and Rei groans.

"In fact," Says a voice from outside our compartment. "Us Slytherin's are quite happy that he is gone, and we have no wish for him to come back," A girl with dark curly hair (and, coincidentally, glasses) steps in. "I'm Elia Zabini, Mina's friend," She sits down in the seat next to Mina.

A boy with dark hair and dark skin walks in and sits next to James. They smile. "And this is my very best friend, Alexavier Jordan,"

"Another future lion," Alexavier say proudly. They laugh while we stare at them with strange expressions on our faces.

"Is there any room in here?" A small girl with light brown hair and crazy cat-eye glasses (what are with the glasses?) and skin peeks her head into our compartment. She sighs. "The rest of them are full, too. I guess I'll just sit on the floor," She sits cross-legged on the ground. "I'm Aviva Goldstein. Nice to meet you,"

"Hi," I say. "I'm Leah Chang-Fletcher. Nice to meet you too,"

"Your last name is Chang?" James asks.

"Yeah..."

"Isn't it an Asian name?"

"Uh huh..."

"You don't look Asian,"

I give him a dirty look. "Maybe if you weren't so goddamn racist, you would figure it out,"

"OK... Chang,"

"Don't call me that,"

"Well unless you want me to call you Fletcher, than that's what I'm going to call you,"

I clench my fists as James and Alexavier laugh their heads off. "Urgh! Fine!" I scowl at him.

"So..." Rei starts, trying to break the tension. "What house does everyone want to be in?"

"Gryffindor!" James and Alexavier chant immediately. We all roll our eyes.

"Well, I'm probably going to be in Ravenclaw, both of my parents were Ravenclaw prefects," Aviva says proudly.

"Same," I say. "My Mom was in Ravenclaw. This kind of stuff finds a way of running in families,"

"I've been listening to you talk," Mina starts. "And I notice that you two have American accents,"

"It's so... exotic!" Aviva adds.

"We're from America, but we're going to the British school," Rei says. "Plus, to us, you sound all 'proper and prim'," He adds in a terrible British accent.

"Hahaha very funny," Elia teases. "As we see, some of us aren't so mature," she adds, looking at James and Alexavier. They grin back.

"So, Rei. Who are your parents?" Aviva asks.

"Oh, you wouldn't know them, they're muggles," Mina can't hide the grimace creeping up on her face. Eliia gives Rei a strange look.

"What?" Rei asks. I groan. I never really told him about blood prejudice. He'll be in for a nasty surprises.

"I'm really sorry," Elia says. "We've been raised to not really respect muggle-borns. And of course we're trying to change, it s just... hard," Mina nods in agreement.

"Oh," Rei mutters. "I... I didn't know,"

"It's OK, it s our fault, really," Mina says apologetically.

"And this is exactly why all Slytherin's suck," James says with a sneer on his face.

"I'd die before I'd be put in Slytherin," Alexavier taunts.

"Do you get this all the time?" I ask the Slytherin's.

"Yeah," Mina admits. "But haters gonna hate,"

"Would you like anything from the trolley, dearies?" A portly old lady with a trolley decked with sweets stands at the door.

I'm about to take out a few knuts from my pocket and buy a cauldron cake when James stands up and says,"We'll buy it all,"

A mountain of candies and pastries appear on the table. "Dig in," James says. "You don't expect me to eat this all by myself, do you?" Chocolate frogs hop around and Alexavier blows a large bubble with some Droobles Best Blowing Gum.

"Would you like a chocolate frog?" Rei asks me.

"No thanks," I say. "I actually don't like chocolate," Everyone in the compartment gasps and then falls over with hysterical giggling. Oh well, you do get used to it after a while.

"OK," I challenge the Slytherin's. "Tell us poor little first years what school is like,"

"Well," Elia laughs. "You do a lot of cool magic. But potions is the best class by far,"

"Yeah, right," Mina rolls her eyes. "Charms totally beats potions,"

"Charms is for losers,"

"Potions is only the favorite class of stuck-up know-it-alls,"

"Better than charms, the favorite class of idiots,"

"Guys! Guys!" James intervenes. "Calm it down, we all no defense against the dark arts is the best, the class for heroes like me and Alexavier,"

"You haven't even taken the class once," I criticize.

"Well, Chang, how do you think all those aurors defeated Voldemort?"

I grimace at the name, I don't know if it's my last name, or the name of the most evil dark wizard in all of history.

"I agree with Leah, but we can all agree that history of magic is the worst. I wish Professor Binns were alive so I could murder him," Elia says quite seriously.

"Amen!" Mina says almost a bit too loudly.

"Wait... how is he not alive?" Rei asks nervously.

"There are a bunch of ghost around Hogwarts. He just happens to be the most boring one of all," Elia says boredly as Rei chat a bit more. Mostly about school and stuff. The train starts slowing down and comes to a gentle stop. My body fills with excitement, like I m at the top of a steep rollercoaster. I grab all my things and run out the train, trying not to get trampled by the massive amounts of students and their luggage trying to get out the small door.

I finally get outside and take a deep breath of the cool air. A light breeze is coming from the west and above the squabbles of the excited children, you could hear birds. A forest surrounds the grounds. I wish that everyone could be quiet for just a moment and listen. Just listen.

I wake up from my fantasy when I hear a male voice call "Firs' years this way! Firs' years this way!" Rei, Aviva, James, Alexavier, and I run over to the voice while Mina and Elia board horseless carriages. We squirm through the crowd to mind the tallest man I ve ever seen with a large beard with a few streaks of silver in it. I head towards the boats, as all the other students are doing the same thing.

Hagrid! James runs up to the man and hugs him.

"Been lookin forward ter this moment ever since yer mum and dad left," The man named Hagrid responds.

James hops in the boat next to Rei and I. "Does he have to sit next to us?" Rei complains. I roll my eyes. I didn t like James that much either, but I certainly wasn t going to be rude about it.

"Quite beautiful, isn t it, Chang?" James says in his pompous voice.

Yeah, I murmur. The lake was dark, but not in a polluted way. In a very beautiful way. I close my eyes and take another deep breath. It was quite amazing how these boats rowed themselves.

We finally reach the bank and my heartbeat quickens. This was the start of my life with magic. Never once had I cast a spell, and this will the place that I will. We step inside the castle to see wonderful medieval architecture- absolutely beautiful! We wait eagerly at the door to the great hall. Children shove each other to stand at the front, even though it doesn t really matter. A tired old lady who I assume is Professor McGonagall opens the door and let s us in.

It s amazing, really. Candle float in mid-air, not a single wire to be found, and not a drip of wax falling from them. The enchanted ceiling shows a beautiful sunset. I read about all of this in Hogwarts, A History, but it s nothing compared to the real thing. The first years stand in the back of the hall as we wait for Professor McGonagall to give her speech to the school. She gracefully walks up to the podium.

"Good evening, students," The chattering room becomes silent.

A chorus of Good evening Professor McGonagall's came from the students.

"We'd like to welcome you back to another year of Hogwarts, another year of learning. New students, we'd all like to welcome you here for the first time. I am sure you will have a grand time," Alexavier giggles and I give him a glare. "Now, I hope you all do your best in your classes and have much fun. The forest is forbidden, as always. Now, let's stop wasting our own precious time and get to the sorting!" Cheers explode from the audience.

They bring an old brown hat on a stool if front of the podium. "Let the sorting begin!" And to the first year's surprise, the hat sings a song that it has sung for us for many years.

Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!

We all cheer and then, finally, the sorting begins. Mcgonagall calls the students in alphabetical order, starting with "Acker, Oran!" After about half a minute, the sorting hat shouts "SLYTHERIN!" James scoffs.

"Bagley, Beryl,"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Chastain, Zadoc,"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James and Alexavier clap and give a woot of approval. My heart starts thumping loudly. I know that I am next. I don t even know what house any of my friends are in.

"Chang-Fletcher, Leah," McGonagall shouts. I walk slowly to the front of the room and sit on the three-legged stool. McGonagall puts the hat on my head and I try to blank my mind of any thoughts, as not to create a bias. To my surprise, I hear a voice inside my head.

"Ah, yes. I see you are a very well-rounded person. This will make this hard for me. You are unafraid to cause a bit of trouble and you stand up for your friends, like a true Gryffindor. You are kind like a Hufflepuff. You are creative and love learning, like a Ravenclaw. You excel at leadership, like a Slytherin,"

The sorting hat pauses for a moment.

"I won't put you in Slytherin. You would never betray your friends for your own sake. And you aren't so cunning," My heart sink the tiniest bit. No Mina, no Elia. Oh well.

"I won't put you in Hufflepuff. You are kind, but I sense that your friends aren't the Hufflepuff type, and you want to be with them," I tense up. How did this old hat even know?

"Ah, yes, Gryffindor. You are brave, and when you have a cause you believe in, you fight for it like a true lion at heart. And Ravenclaw, I see, you are creative and love learning, and you are extremely intelligent. I see you don t want to have your own bias to decide your house, but that is how I work. I think I'll put you in..." It pauses one dreadful moment that felt like it lasted a lifetime.

"RAVENCLAW!" It yells. I smile as I run over to the cheering Ravenclaws. I know for certain that James and Alexavier would be in Gryffindor, and being stuck with them for seven years would be my worst nightmare.

I wave of smiling faces with blue ties congratulate me and shake my hand.

I sit down next to a boy who introduces himself as Earle Corner, sixth year prefect.

Lost in thought, I hear, "Goldstein, Aviva!" After a few short seconds I hears a loud,

"RAVENCLAW!" Me and the other Ravenclaws cheers loudly as Aviva sits down and I give her an awkward, one-armed hug.

"Ravenclaw, as expected. I almost got Hufflepuff, though," She smiles.

Soon comes "Jordan, Alexavier," who, after a few moments, was sorted into Gryffindor.

When McGonagall cries "Potter, James Sirius," James runs up to the stool and just the tip of the sorting touched a strand of his messy hair, it shouts "GRYFFINDOR!" And James runs to the rest of his house.

James was a Potter! A Potter! He was the first-born son of Harry Potter! I stare across the Great Hall, looking at him like I just saw the strangest thing in the world that I just couldn't quite believe. And then he winks at me. Idiot.

"Tanton, Rei," Rei walks at a steady pace up to the sorting hat. McGonagall places the hat upon his head and Rei starts making strange facial expressions. Once he almost opened his mouth. I check my watch. He's been up there for more than five minutes. But soon, the hat shouts "RAVENCLAW!" Our whole table cheers, but me and Aviva cheer the loudest.

"Why'd you take so long?" I ask Rei when he finally sits down next to Aviva and I.

"Well, the sorting hat was going to put me in Slytherin," He says honestly. "But all my friends were in Ravenclaw, so I had to kind of persuade it," We nod in understanding.

"The hat almost put me in Gryffindor," I shudder. "I don't know why it chose Ravenclaw over Gryffindor for me, but I'm guessing it's because all Gryffindors are rude, loud, jerks. Either way, I'm happy with the hat's decison,"

"Agreed," Aviva and Rei both chant.

"But can you believe that James a Potter?!" Aviva exclaims.

"I thought they were supposed to be brave," Rei scoffs, "Instead of idiotic."

"You really hate him, don't you?" I ask Rei.

"Yeah." He says. "I hate practically everyone, mind you, but I guess him more than others," We all laugh.

The sorting ends on "Zella, Christian," Becoming a Gryffindor. Almost immediately the Great Hall appears with mountains of food. Warm bread rolls, baked chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, and so much more mouthwatering food beyond where the eye could see.

I hurry my prayers (which normally only take like, ten seconds to say) so I can stuff the food onto my plate and into my mouth.

"I love this school," Aviva says through a mouth of food. The group of Ravenclaws around us laugh, but not for long, as everyone had been looking forward toward this feast ever since school ended.

After the wonderfully delicious dinner, the empty plates disappear and out comes dishes of cake, jello, and pastries. My stomach is stuffed to the brim and hurts like mad, but I decide that a bit of cake won't do any harm. That "bit of cake" turns into several slices, plus a few cups of jello, and a hefty amount of donuts. I feel like my stomach's going to explode, but I'm as happy as I've ever been.

I try this drink called butterbeer, which tastes amazing, but I'm pretty sure that it has alcohol, but I drink several glasses.

After the hefty feast, the Ravenclaw prefects lead us up a long flight of stairs to a large wooden door.

"The only way to get through to the common room is to answer the door's riddle," A blonde-haired girl tells the group of first years. The door asks us the simple sphinx riddle.

Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?

Aviva s hand shoots up high into the sky. The rest of the first-years stare at her and she puts her hand down.

Man, The girl says. When he is a baby, he crawls on all fours, when he is grown, he walks on two legs, and when he is old he needs a cane to support himself, The door opens casually. That was a pretty easy question. Don t worry, it gets harder as the year goes on, She smiles brightly.

The common room was amazing. A large round room with walls painted with a light-blue color and the most comfy chairs I have ever seen. At the front of a room, a fire with blue flames roars ferociously. And around the room there are ginormous windows with beautifully patterned curtains.

A prefect leads the girls upstairs to our dormitory. Inside our room, there are four-poster beds and sheets that look like the night sky. The other girls introduce themselves as Odessa Corner, Accalia Davies, and Edith Boot. I quickly introduce myself and then begin the long, laborious task of unpacking my suitcase.

That s going to take forever, Aviva complains. Here. I ll help you, She points her wand at my suitcase and says Unpack! and all the contents of my suitcase comes flying out of the bag and into it s correct drawer. Then she does that to every girl s suitcase.

I love you, I say to Aviva.

Aw, it s nothing. Just learned from a book I picked up, She replies, cheeks reddening.

I change into my pajamas. I m just wearing some flannel pants and a tank top, while all the have others these silk nightgowns. They stare at me.  
Muggle pajamas, I say and they nod. I climb into bed. It felt so soft on my skin. And I can t help but close my eyes .


	4. First Days of School Part One

Chapter Four: First Days of School Part

 **Hey peeps! Sorry I've been keeping you waiting for such a short chapter. I've been binge-watching Steven Universe and I completely forgot about this. In fact, I'm planning a crossover where Luna Lovegood and Harry find Lapis's mirror instead of Steven. Tell me what you think, SU fans! Anyway, sorry for the wait, Love you guys!**

 **~The Anti-Horcrux~**

I wake up to see light streaming through the large window next to my bed. My phone alarm is ringing and I reach over to shut it off.

"What the hell was that?" Odessa mutters groggily.

"A muggle device that wakes you up at a preset time," I say, not wanting to get into too much detail.

"Oh," She mutters. "Smart," I notice that Aviva has been up for hours, a canvas laying on her bed, half-painted. I stumble out of bed to go take a look.

Before I say something, Aviva says that she was painting the Ravenclaw crest. I nod sleepily. Accalia tries to wake up Edith, who had slept through the alarm. I get into my robes, resisting the urge to lie back down on my bed.

"God," I say, "I just want to go back to bed," The other girls give tired nods.

"Here," Aviva says. "I'll get you some water," She point her wand at my bedstand and says " _Aqua Vitruma!"_ And on my bedside appears a cool cup of water. I take a sip. It wasn't coffee, but it definitely energized me.

"Thank you," I say. "You're a lifesaver,"

" _Standard Book of Spells_ ," She says. "And I thought you were all Ravenclaws!" I was too tired to disagree with what she said, so I stayed quiet.

Five minutes later, we march down to the common room with dozens of other tired Ravenclaws. The prefects take us down to the common room, where the tables were already filled with our breakfast.

Aviva runs to the table and takes a large stack of pancakes. I sit down next to her and take a good amount of pancakes, but less than half of what Aviva took. Rei soon sits down next to us, and by the the time he does, Aviva has eaten almost all her pancakes, while I have barely finished half of one. And then she takes an even bigger amount of pancakes for her seconds, with mountains of syrup.

"And this is why we have world hunger," Rei comments.

Aviva takes a large pancake and stuffs it down her throat, syrup dripping into her long brown hair.

"Uh, Aviva?"

"What?" She asks, looking at me.

"You just got syrup in your hair,"

"Oh," She says. She pulls at a strand of hair and inspects it. Then her hair morphs into short black hair, contained by a large white bow.

"Woah," Rei exclaims. "What was that?"

"I'm a metamorphmagus," She says. "I can change appearance at will,"

"This must be a spell," I gasp.

"Nope," She says. "I'm born this way. The famous auror Nymphadora Tonks was a metamorphmagus, too. Her son, Teddy, is at this school too, and he's a metamorphmagus. We're friends," She says smugly as she waves to a seventh year boy with bright blue hair sitting at the Hufflepuff table. He smiles and waves back.

"How do you know him?" Rei asks.

"We're neighbors," She says.

"So is this a genetic thing?" I wonder out loud.

"I don't think so. Teddy's mom was a metamorphmagus, but my parents aren't. I guess it's kind of like how muggleborns are wizards. Not a drop of wizarding blood in them, yet they're magical,"

"So you can turn into anything?" Rei asks.

"Well, almost anything. I have to look at least a bit human,"

"Turn into him," I point at a professor at the far end of the staff table.

"Easy," She says as her body slowly morphs into the professor.

"Creepy," Rei says as she morphs back.

"I like that look on you," I say.

"Well, thank you," She gives a blinding white smile but soon takes another stack of pancakes.

"Well, I guess she doesn't have to worry about getting fat," Rei chuckles.

After breakfast, I quickly run up to the dorm to give Apple a plate of sausage. I found her playing with Accalia's black cat, Persephone. Cute.

Then we started classes. Our first class was Transfiguration with the Slytherins.

"Now," Mr. Islixan, a man with blue-black hair and dark skin , addressed the class. "Transfiguration is one of the hardest classes here at Hogwarts. It is powerful, though. All you need is hard work and the ability to listen," And with a flick of his wand, a packet on tips and safety appears on our tables. We don't actually transfigure anything that day, but Mr. Islixan shows us some pretty cool feats of transfiguration, such as turning a cup into a real, live mouse.

Next was herbology with Professor Longbottom and the Gryffindors. Professor Longbottom seems really close to James. He showed us amazing plants. Everyone was amazed.

Double charms is next. Aviva I fascinated. I have a lot of fun too. The day ends sooner than anyone could imagine. The feast was almost as good as last nights. And as if they day was only a few short moments, we all are fast asleep.


End file.
